by Regale, Rhea
“For bein’ a fuckin’ bastard and lettin’ me believe Caroline’s story.” He snorted. “And for runnin’ away from the situation like a pansy.”
A wave of exhaustion swept through him, but before he could lower himself into a chair, Brody lashed back with his own painful punch that jerked him around, leaving him bent over the chair. The ache spread through his cheek and into his head, but began to fade within moments.
“And that’s for believin’ the bitch’s outlandish claims over your own brother’s integrity,” Brody grumbled, dropping to the floor and leaning against the chair. Craig groaned and lowered himself beside Brody, draping his arms around his bent knees. “I never liked blondes.”
“Neither did I,” Craig said. Brody narrowed his gaze on him and he shrugged. “Caroline was a mistake in judgment.”
“I’d say.” Brody sighed, tapping the toe of his boot against the hardwood floor. “I didn’t realize Mandy was at Ride’em that night.”
“I can’t believe she knew all this time and never said a word.”
“Women are funny, ya know?” Brody laughed quietly and shook his head. “All the years she’d go runnin’ to Momma when we did somethin’ bad, you’d think she’d come runnin’ to us when she realized what Caroline did.”
“At the time, we were blind to her. I’d bet we wouldn’t have believed her.” Craig knotted his fingers, forcing the ebbing pain to fade faster from his cheek. He tried to imagine Amanda coming up to him with the truth of what happened and knew, even as guilt filled his chest, he would’ve brushed her aside. Caroline’s false betrayal left him raw and jaded. It would be three months after that night when he and Amanda laid the first stakes to a friendship he hoped to turn into something more.
Now her final words about not wanting either of them echoed in his soul, a pendulum rocking back and forth in blackness.
“Well, Craig, she played her hand smart.” Brody leaned back against the chair and looked at Craig.
“The woman is smarter than us combined. She put me to shame.” He glanced toward the empty foyer. “Did you know I was interested?”
Brody frowned. “No, and I even asked Rylan, who told me you two were only friends. When I saw her at Martin’s the mornin’ I came in, I don’t know what happened to me. She literally stole my breath, and I haven’t been able to think of anyone other than her. The very idea of returning to tour and groupies leaves a sickening churn in my gut. You?”
“I had no clue until I saw you two earlier.” Craig couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips despite the dreary outlook of his future with Amanda. “Three years ago, I tripped over a chair someone threw back at Ride’em and fell into her, knockin’ her beer all over dress. I felt terrible, and as corny as it may sound, the moment she looked up at me, I felt the world stop. I drowned. I was goin’ to school in Arizona and didn’t want to start anythin’ that would be long-distance. My trust wasn’t all there, and I didn’t think it was fair for her. I’ve kept the friendship despite the desire for more.”
“What changed?”
“Pa’s death. Seein’ how precious life is and how often we take it for granted. Made me realize I didn’t want to wait any longer. If she was willin’ to hold in there while I finished school, then I would give her every ounce of my trust.”
Craig sighed. He and Brody had royally fucked up.
“It’s funny how one woman drove us apart and another is bringin’ us back together,” Brody murmured. Craig dropped his head back and closed his eyes. He may have begun the road to rectifying the problems between him and Brody, but he was on the verge of losing the woman he loved. “Mandy’s like one of those catalysts.”
Yes, she was a catalyst. A catalyst for so many things that were quickly beginning to shatter inside him.
“You got the keys to my old Ford in Pa’s garage?” Brody asked. Craig’s brow furrowed. In the midst of this mess, his brother was asking about his truck? “Thinkin’ maybe we can get it runnin’ again while we give Mandy some time to cool off. Catch up on lost years and put the past to rest.”
“Yeah, I’ve got ’em. Needs an oil change and some gas. How’d you know?”
“Pa left a note on the dash.” Brody lowered his gaze. “Guess our ol’ man knew me better than I knew myself.”
“You know, I’m not willin’ to lose her,” Craig said. He rolled his head and looked at Brody. “You?”
Brody thought for a long moment. Craig watched his mind working with each blink and each tap of his fingers on his thigh. When his brother looked back at him, he saw something spark across his expression. Something that brought back an energy from before Caroline.
This energy found root in the heart of the Casanovas.
Brody’s lip curled at the corner, his eyes darkening. “No. I’m not.” He climbed to his feet and held his hand out for Craig. Facing each other, Craig sensed a lost connection emanating from the spreading energy. “There was a time we shared almost everythin’ as brothers.”
Craig straightened his shoulders and arched a brow. “Are you thinkin’ what I think you’re thinkin’?”
The shadows deepened in Brody’s eyes. “We haven’t lost that bond over three years, brother. You’re definitely thinkin’ what I’m thinkin’.”
“She said she liked us both.”
“Yes, she did.” Brody chuckled. “Think she can handle us both?”
“Let’s get that truck runnin’.” He pat Brody’s arm. “Then I guess we should find out.”
Chapter Twelve
Mandy groaned and tucked her phone beneath the cushion of Heidi’s sofa. She grabbed the glass of wine her friend poured and sank back in the pillow, sipping the drink and nursing her aching heart. Heidi joined her a few minutes later, placing a tray of cheese and wheat crackers on the coffee table.
“You should answer their calls,” Heidi said, tucking her feet under her and settling in opposite of Mandy. “See what happened.”
“I’m pretty sure nothin’ good came out of it. Those two were throwin’ fists like castin’ lines.” Mandy took another drink, hiding her frown against the rim on the glass. “I ain’t no better than Caroline, even if my intentions were far different. It’s wrong havin’ two men.” She scrunched her nose. “Not normal.”
“I’ve heard from a reliable source they wouldn’t be the first Ryders who engage in some unconventional relationships.”
Mandy snorted and snagged a cracker. “All Ryders go for one woman when they’re ready to settle down. They don’t share. It’s history.”
Heidi snickered and shook her head, tapping her wineglass with an acrylic nail. “Travis and Brent have been sharin’ that Alexis gal. Got word from one of the ranch hands those three are definitely an item.” Mandy lifted her brows, pausing with the cracker at her lips and crumbs catching along her gloss. “Yep. And there’s been talk about a possible weddin’ for December. Lexi’s gonna marry one of them to make it official, but she’s got herself a lucky setup with those two sexy stallions.”
“No way!” Mandy gasped. Heidi nodded, her eyes clouding with mischief. Mandy shifted, sitting back on her heels. She put her glass and cracker on the table and leaned toward her friend. “You’re serious? How come I haven’t heard about it?”
“I’ve got a friend you haven’t got. I also know that Travis and Brent had a thing goin’ for a few years that was hush-hush. My friend stumbled upon them one day, and since he’s a pretty loyal fella, he kept his observations to himself.”
“But he told you?”
“Ehh,” Heidi waved her hand, a light rose touching her cheeks. “I kinda got the grub out of him with a few shots of whiskey and a good night.”
Mandy smacked Heidi’s knee and gaped. “Heidi!”
“What can I say? I’m a sucker for a hot, blond cowboy.” She smiled and waggled her brows. “I’m willin’ to call off our bet ’cause I know you can’t be givin’ me your paycheck, and my boobs definitely won’t fit in that dress. But under one condition.”
“There ain’t no bet, Heidi. It went out the window after this mornin’.”
“Those boys are callin’ you nonstop. I think the bet is far from off.” Heidi grabbed Mandy’s chin and held her gaze steady. “I know I’m gonna win it. That’s why I’m callin’ it off. However, would you be open to the possibilities of havin’ both those brothers lovin’ you?”
“You don’t mean together, do you?” Mandy squirmed at the very idea of both Ryders showing her how much they could love a woman, and it left her simmering.
“I mean however they want you. And they do want you, more than just a fuck, girl. Brody was writin’ a song this mornin’, and I have a feelin’ it’s about you. Your momma called me when you didn’t come home from your date with Craig last night, askin’ if you were at work. God forgive me, I told her you were and your phone must’ve been out of reach. So, you see, you’ve got ’em both, but are you willin’ to take them both?”
“You’re speakin’ to me like you’ve been involved in a ménage before.”
Heidi shrugged and sat back, that wicked smile toying on her mouth. “Once or twice. Girl, it’ll change your entire outlook on sex. It feels so damn good you’ll never want normal missionary again.” She took a sip of wine. “There’s a lot that goes on around you that you’re closed off to. Those boys on the ranch are wild, and they’re good at what they do. The good ol’ town of Ryder has a whole different side beneath the traditional, and it ain’t goin’ nowhere.”
Mandy settled against the cushions, thoughts toiling around her head. Brody and Craig? Sure, she liked them both, even if her feelings were stronger toward Craig. After all, they had a relationship, but Brody had always been her fantasy. She tasted them, learned them, and knew more about them on an intimate level in a matter of days than she ever dreamed.
She rubbed her bottom lip with the tip of her finger. Heidi watched her, that smile never faltering, her mischief never dimming. Mandy glanced up once, looking away as the itch between her legs grew with the very idea of crossing a wicked line. What would her momma say? How could anything that Heidi suggested work?
“They both travel.” Mandy looked up at her friend. “In opposite directions. Craig follows the rodeo circuit. Brody goes wherever his agent sets him to go.”
“That’ll make the time all three of you are together even more special and frisky.”
“Both of them will be expected to marry. What would Mrs. Ryder think if she finds out both her sons are with the same woman?” Mandy covered her face and giggled. “Oh dear, and that woman was me? What would she think of me? And my own momma?” Slapping her hands on her knees, she let out a sharp breath. “I’d be a disgrace.”
“You’d be a powerhouse. Imagine what they’d feel like, all strong, hard-muscled cowboys takin’ you from the front and the back.” Heidi drank up her wine and grabbed the remote to the television from the arm of the sofa. Mandy tried to rub the heat from her face. No way could her pussy get hotter at the moment. “I’d think about it somethin’ good, ’cause tomorrow, I’m kickin’ you out of my place. I’m not aidin’ a runaway girlfriend.”
* * * *
Craig dug out his cell phone from his pocket and squinted against the bright display screen. He immediately motioned for Brody to pull off the road, and he connected the call by the fourth ring. His heart jump-started to an anxious pace as he rubbed the grit from his eyes. Brody’s brows furrowed, both hands gripping the steering wheel of the old Ford.
“Amanda, where’ve you been? Brody and I’ve been lookin’ all over for you. Are you okay?” he asked. He hadn’t realized how hoarse he sounded. The day had been a long, tiring one, but after they fixed up the truck and spun it around the grounds, a new vigor took hold of him, and the hunt for Amanda ensued.
“Craig, it’s Heidi.” Something scraped against the phone. “Mandy’s with me. She’s been hidin’ from you two since the little brawl.”
“Christ. Is she okay? Why’s she hidin’?”
“She’s thinkin’ you may see her as another Caroline, but we all know that’s not true. Right?”
“She ain’t nothin’ like that heartless devil.” Craig cleared the rasp from his throat and glanced at the screen on his phone. Almost twelve-thirty in the morning. “Is she sleepin’?”
“I wouldn’t be talkin’ to you otherwise. Your woman would knock me on my ass if she knew I was plottin’ to conspire with you and your brother. First off, did you two work out your petty differences, ’cause that’s what three years of wasted time sprouted from.”
“Yeah, yeah. We’re fine.”
“Good. What’s your bright plan with Mandy? You know, she’s kinda concerned ’cause you both travel.” Heidi grunted. “A lot. And…” Craig pinched his forehead at the hesitation. His body was strung tight with anxiety. Right now, he didn’t want any talking or explaining delaying him from getting to Amanda. By the rapping of Brody’s fingers on the steering wheel, he surmised neither did his brother. “You both are tryin’ for her. How’s that gonna work if you don’t share?”
“Hey, that ain’t somethin’ I’m discussin’ with her friend,” Craig muttered. He tilted his head and caught Brody’s gaze. Brody jutted his chin toward him and mouthed “Mandy?” Craig shook his head. “Think we can swing by?”
“I was thinkin’ more along the lines of me droppin’ her off at her momma’s tomorrow mornin’ on my way into work and you bein’ there, waitin’ for her.”
“I’m done waitin’, Heidi. Neither of us is goin’ to sleep until we resolve things with Amanda. Where do you live?”
“Hell, Craig. She’ll know I was talkin’ to you.”
“All she has to do is check her phone to see that. Either you tell me where you live, or I’m callin’ Rylan and I’ll find out through him.”
“You can’t do that!”
Craig groaned. Brody reached over and snatched the phone from his hand.
“Heidi, doll, you need to be workin’ with us here. Otherwise you wouldn’t have called Craig. We’re on the side of Bramble. Where do I go?” Brody asked. There was a long pause. Craig listened to the sounds of Heidi speaking, but couldn’t make out a word. Brody finally smiled and winked at him. “Nah. Let her sleep. We’ll be there in a blink.”
Brody handed him the phone. He lifted it to his ear. “Yeah.”
“Listen, Ryder. I just told your brother what I’m gonna tell you. You’d better be good to her. She deserves nothin’ less.” She sighed. “She’s really got it bad for you, Craig. I’ve seen it for a while now, but she’s denied it with a fight. When Brody came to town, I saw that familiar spark in the way she looked at him, too. Whatever you three decide to do, don’t go breakin’ my girl’s heart, which means don’t go startin’ somethin’ you ain’t plannin’ on finishin’, got it?”
“You have nothin’ to worry about. I promise you that.”
“A Ryder promise?”
Craig chuckled, smoothing a hand over his hair and resting his head against the window behind the seat. “We Ryders are only as good as our promises.”
“That’s ’cause you boys left a mess of heartaches in your boot tracks durin’ your rowdy years, although I think Carter’s reputation is worst of y’all’s.”
Brody guided the truck onto the road. The engine rumbled loudly, and wind whistled against the poorly sealed windows as they pulled ahead. The truck bounced over the bumpy road. Craig groaned when his head smacked the window, and he sat up.
“We’re on our way. See you shortly.” Craig disconnected the phone and tossed it up on the dash. He angled himself toward Brody. “What’re you thinkin’ to do after next week?”
“If you’re askin’ me whether this is gonna be a temporary fling to drive by time while back in Ryder, you best save your breath.”
Brody turned onto a dark dirt road that connected a series of small apartment buildings to the edge of Ryder. He slowed down and read off the building numbers, and finally turned into the lot of the last unit. Park
ing the truck alongside the curb in front of the stairs, he turned fully to Craig and narrowed his eyes.
“We can make this work. It ain’t the first time we’ve shared a woman at the same time, but it sure as hell will be more than an experiment with Mandy. We’ve got hearts in this, and I ain’t about to see any get broken. I’m thirty-three, Craig. Even if my career is just takin’ off, I’m kinda over the groupie scene. It gets old, and in the mornin’, I’m wakin’ up alone and just as empty as when I went to sleep, even if I was spent before I shut my eyes.”
Craig hesitated, watching Brody slide off the bench seat and close his door gently. The dim yellow street light did little to brighten the nighttime darkness that drank in this area of town. Raccoons scurried out of sight. Shadows deepened between parked vehicles and the narrow patches of grass between units.
Climbing from the old truck, Craig clicked the door closed and met Brody at the front bumper. He arched his back, stiff from hours of work in the garage and driving aimlessly in search of Amanda. Brody dropped a hand on his shoulder and met his gaze.
“Craig, I don’t want to be a Casanova anymore. Mandy called me that the first mornin’ I saw her, and hearin’ it from her lips, I hated the association and the apprehension that followed in the look she gave me. We used to pride ourselves on bein’ called that, but I’m not proud of it any longer. You’ve grown out of it faster than us all, and I’ve always wondered when the time would come for me to grow up. Well, comin’ home, my real home where my roots are anchored and my heart beats freely, has made me realize an awful lot about the man I was, the man I’ve become, and the man I want to be.” He pointed to the stairs. “That woman up there is an angel, and I’m not about ready to go messin’ things up. I’ve lived a painful mess for the past three years, Craig. I have hurt. I have suffered. I know you have, too. I also know you love her, and if you’d let me, I want to love her with you.”
Craig reached up and laid his hand over Brody’s. The hole in his soul left by their ongoing fight over a woman had been filled by Amanda, who inadvertently left a bigger hole in his heart when she stormed out of the house. He could see that same pain in his brother’s eyes and feel it pulsing in the air around them. This was the real deal sitting on true emotions. If Craig was going to share the woman he called his own with anyone, Brody would be the only person he’d dare let touch her.